If anyone was still wondering why West Ham are in the market for a new goalkeeper, this morning’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United provided a very clear answer.
There were some encouraging signs in the loss to Ruben Amorim’s side – with Jarrod Bowen, Malick Diouf, Freddie Potts and debutant Preston Fearon all impressing – but Alphonse Areola’s performance will do nothing to reassure anyone.
The Frenchman is a decent shot-stopper, but his struggles with the ball at his feet have always been a concern. Against United, though, he managed to fluff his lines with both hands and feet.
First, Areola dropped a routine catch onto the back of Malick Diouf, leading to a scramble and a penalty after the keeper clattered into Ayden Heaven. Then came a sloppy pass that led to Bruno Fernandes netting United’s second.
It’s clear Graham Potter wants his goalkeeper to build from the back, but Areola simply isn’t equipped for that style of play. He’s never been reliable with crosses either, so must nail the basics – and didn’t.
It’s no surprise then that West Ham remain interested sign Mads Hermansen from Leicester City. The club recently overhauled its goalkeeper coaching setup, and this morning’s game underlined exactly why. A new arrival in that position can’t come soon enough.
It was a problem last season, as usual West Ham leave it to the last minute to solve a problem that was evident months ago.
The defence, midfield and attack ain’t much cop, either !
Areola’s errors in this one match were a perfect example of how he performed last season. By comparison Herrick has been showing how good his all-round came has become. He is the future but we need another goalie to replace Areola in the short-term.
Why change the goalkeeper who is a great shot stopper just because Potter wants to play out from the back. None of our other defenders are confident on the ball either. Stick with a 442 system and get the ball forward quicker.
The clueless potter is going to take us down
Should have stuck with Fab for another year. He showed last season that his powers had not diminished .
@ dmj. Roberto? 🙂
36 day’s left of this transfer window, it’s going to be utter chaos with a scramble of senior player’s wanting to leave and a plethora of, hopefully, young talented players wanting a fresh challenge and of course the old, elephant in the room the player that only Sullivan and Salthouse want and the rest of us don’t count!
Absolutely terrible goal keeping, time for a change or more intense training
Areola is the worst goalkeeper West Ham have had since Alan Mc@@@@@
It was a very poor performance all round,
Goalkeeper awful, defence very dodgy, midfield no pace until the youngsters came on and only Jarrod a threat up front!
Its gonna be a very long season!
COYI!
So sad to see the same old stuff as last season.
And no, fitness nor pre-season preparedness can fix the inherent weaknesses of Areola, Rodriques, Todibo, and alas Kilman. Neither can it make Soucek a hard faster, nor get JWP to get a top class pass in or a free kick goal.
Said it before, and will say it again … how the dickens could a struggling team like WH even think of getting rid of Fabianski, Coufal + Cressie?
Now exactly like I said, the club will have to fork out millions for a decent keeper + full backs.
Oh the senselessness of our coach + owners ????
Have you forgotten Roberto